Varanasi constituency is one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, encompassing five assembly segments: Rohaniya, Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Varanasi Cantt, and Sevapuri. Elections are scheduled for June 1 in the seventh phase of polling.
This constituency holds immense political significance and has been represented twice by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Apart from Narendra Modi who will be contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket in this election, the Congress has fielded Ajai Rai for the third time.
Rai, earlier with the BJP, is currently the Uttar Pradesh Congress chief and began his political career as a 'karyakarta' of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He has also been the state minister for cooperatives in the Mayawati-led BSP-BJP alliance government in UP. Notably, Rai is a former five-time Member of Legislative Assembly from Varanasi.
Rai joined the Congress in 2012 when he contested from Pindra (formerly known as Kolasla) and defeated a BJP candidate.
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Since 1991, Varanasi has been predominantly represented by the BJP, with a lone term claimed by the Congress in 2004.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Varanasi witnessed a historic victory for Narendra Modi, who secured a staggering 674,664 votes. Modi triumphed over his closest competitor, Shalini Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, who garnered 195,159 votes.
Rai secured the third position, obtaining only 1.52 lakh votes.
Similarly, in 2014, Modi defeated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Arvind Kejriwal by 371,784 votes.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi of the BJP won the Varanasi constituency with 203,122 votes, while Mukhtar Ansari of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party received 185,911 votes.
| Candidate Name | Party |
| Narendra Modi | BJP |
| Ajai Rai | Congress |
| Athar Jamal Lari | Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) |
| Gagan Prakash Yadav | Apna Dal – Kamerawadi |
| Sanjay Kumar Tiwari | Independent |
| Dinesh Kumar Yadav | Independent |
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